


Human Resources

by NeurotropicAgentX



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Coercion, Consent Issues, Darkest Timeline, Despair, Disturbing Content, Negotiations, Other, Tread Carefully, Unhealthy Relationships, eating people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 07:24:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16949586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeurotropicAgentX/pseuds/NeurotropicAgentX
Summary: The shining new world is not at all how Drake imagined it would be.





	Human Resources

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my editor for her invaluable assistance.

Maybe it would have been better if Riot had just taken over completely, Drake thought with a distant sort of horror. A few of the symbiotes did that. He didn’t know if they ate parts of the host brain, or made alterations to the neurons themselves, or something subtler. Either way, those humans were dead and only their symbiote-controlled flesh remained. But that was the exception. Most of them liked having an intact host for one reason or another. The woman Riot was chasing didn’t have a symbiote. She wasn’t moving with the alien fluidity of a host and even Drake could taste her fear as Riot gained on her.

This wasn’t what he’d wanted. Instead of the bright shining utopia of a symbiote-human alliance, Riot’s people had turned the Earth into a feeding ground. Even the surviving human hosts had no will of their own and everyone without a symbiote was… was prey. Riot had lied to Drake from the beginning and he’d been stupid enough to fall for it. He’d craved a way to save humanity from itself and Riot had fed off that desire.

Riot had carefully corralled the woman into a dead-end alley. She’d probably been hunting for supplies. It was the only reason un-bonded humans came into the cities at all these days. Drake knew what was coming as Riot closed in. He knew he couldn’t stop it. Riot’s flesh overlaid Drake’s entirely and it was in complete control of the body’s movements. The connection between them was laid open. Drake could feel Riot’s impulses and emotions as if they were his own. Once Drake had craved that kind of union. Now sharing the symbiote’s hunger and bloodlust turned his stomach.

The woman didn’t even scream as Riot approached, like she had passed through fear into some other mental state. 

_At least make it quick,_ Drake pleaded.

Riot growled, the sound rumbling through Drake's body. He could feel its irritation. Then the parts of it overlaying Drake's right arm manifested a long blade and it plunged the weapon right through the woman’s chest. It was a quick death, comparatively. Drake knew how much Riot enjoyed drawing out its kills. The body still tasted fresh when Riot bit through the woman's neck and swallowed down the head. The satisfaction of Riot's hunger was a golden warmth spreading through the link and it was only slightly dulled by Riot's displeasure at having its fun spoiled.

 _That was for me. Because I asked you to make it quick,_ Drake said slowly.

 **Yes,** Riot replied.

 _Why!?_ Drake demanded. He'd _begged_ Riot for days after they'd first returned to Earth. Pleaded with it not to let its people slaughter and _eat_ their way through the human population. And Riot had done nothing. Had just _ignored_ him.

 **Because you wanted it.** It paused. **I liked it before. When we worked together.**

Drake blinked. Even in the coils of Riot's flesh, he had that much autonomy. He might have even laughed, but it probably would have come out sounding hysterical. _When I thought we shared the same goal. Mutual salvation! An alliance! Your people are_ destroying _mine._

Riot had finished feeding and was absorbing the last flecks of blood and human tissue through its surface. **We are predators. It is our nature. And my people will always come first to me.**

_And humans are lazy, stupid and selfish by nature, but some of us manage to rise above that! And they come first to me._

**What do you care? I've seen your memories, felt your thoughts. You don't even like other humans. You think they’re ungrateful and wasteful and shortsighted. You’ve _said_ that.**

_I care because they’re mine! They’re my species. I was born and raised among them and I made it my mission to save them. They’re sapient, thinking, feeling beings and that matters. Is intelligent life so common out there that anyone can afford to discard even a single species?_

**Not very common,** Riot admitted. **You’ll be able to see for yourself, later,** it added in a sly tone. **We’ll go to the stars like you always wanted. And not alone. Some symbiotes will keep their human hosts. We like humans and those ones will be saved from your disintegrating biosphere.**

Drake closed his eyes against the darkness of Riot’s flesh. Images from his past flickered through his mind. Looking up at the stars as a young boy, imagining something better than this, far away from human limitations and suffering. Cruel of Riot to use those old dreams against him now. _You know that’s not enough. You know that’s a travesty of my goal. What do you even want from me, Riot? What do you want that you and your people can’t simply take?_ Drake asked wearily.

Riot was taking them home. It was fond of Drake’s penthouse, probably because it was high up. Or maybe it just liked tapping into Drake’s muscle memory for ease of moving around that particular environment. It scaled buildings and leapt through the cityscape in silence for several minutes. **I can’t take your cooperation,** it finally said.

 _Demonstrably you can,_ Drake said bitterly as he tried and failed to move his right arm in illustration.

**No. Not in all the ways. When we were working together before, you felt… I liked the way your emotions tasted, when you thought of me. I want that. I want to feed together without your disgust and horror spoiling the meal. I want my goals to be your goals again.**

This time Drake did laugh. He seldom bothered vocalising while he was overlaid like this, but he couldn’t stop the sound. His laughter wasn’t hysterical, but it was harsh and utterly devoid of mirth. ‘You’re insane. I’m hosting the one symbiote who’s more delusional than Venom was,’ he said out loud.

Riot growled, but didn’t say anything further. They swarmed up the side of Drake’s building and Riot pulled them through the penthouse’s open bedroom window. Then it melted back beneath Drake’s skin and gave him control of the body.

For a moment Drake just stood there in shock. He licked his lips and took a step of his own volition. The first one he’d taken since they’d got back to Earth. ‘What are you doing?’ he asked.

**Letting you lead for a little while.**

Drake nodded slowly and then sprinted toward the open window. Riot stopped him just before he reached it. 

**Don’t be stupid. I’d catch us.** Drake let out a long breath. **There’s dead human food in the kitchen. Some of it will still be... ‘good’, if you wanted.**

‘Food isn’t quite the motivator for me as it is for you,’ Drake said dryly.

**But there are things you want. And there are things I want. We could… negotiate.**

‘You picked that up from my memories, didn’t you?’ 

**Yes. I have never negotiated with a host. Even when cooperation is necessary, lying has been sufficient.**

Drake froze as effectively as if Riot had retaken control. With the bond between them thrown open, he could sense its sincerity in way he hadn’t been able to in the early days. And was that…? Drake’s lip curled. Affection. Riot _liked_ him. Was _fond_ of him, perhaps, the way a human might favour a _pet_. 

**Not a pet. A host. An optimal host.** A hesitation from Riot. **To even offer you this much control, to want to keep you rather than hopping between bodies means more than you understand.**

Drake seethed. He wanted to scream. He wanted to find the right pitch that would hurt a symbiote and explain to Riot exactly how much of an insult its token, condescending overtures were. But Drake swallowed his rage. If there was even a shred of use in negotiating then he owed an attempt to the remnants of humanity.

‘My goals haven’t changed. I want to save my species. You talk about moving on. Let’s move on now, _right now_ , to a new planet. You say you’re a leader, so get your people off this planet. Hell, take the humans who are already hosting, but leave the rest of the survivors to rebuild. Do that and I’ll cooperate. I’ll do whatever you want.’ There wasn’t any point in trying to negotiate the way he would for a business deal. Riot could read him, would know if he was holding back or bluffing or lying. Drake couldn’t hide the fact that he was prepared to offer Riot anything for the rest of humanity.

Riot slithered restlessly beneath his skin. **This was the latest suitable planet. We have sent off new scouts, but they will not report back for years. We will not leave blindly without a suitable destination.**

Drake closed his eyes and exhaled sharply. ‘Alright. Damage control. There’s more to Earth’s edible biomass than humans. During those _years_ ,’ he nearly choked on the word, ‘stop hunting humans. Eat other larger mammals instead. Farm more livestock if you have to. I can… I could probably help convince humanity not to try and fight back if you can promise an end to the killing.’

 **I am _a_ leader. Not the only one. I don’t have the power to stop everyone from eating humans. We do not farm. We are predators and we are _hungry_.**

‘Then I’ll fix _that_! Get me a laboratory and scientists. I know you need fresh meat and there has to be a biochemical reason for that. I can find and isolate the compound. I can work out a way to synthesise it. I can design a better molecule, something energy intense that will last longer and keep you monsters sated.’ Drake’s fists were clenched and his teeth were bared to the empty room. Even as enraged as he was, there was a spark of fear deep in his consciousness. As much as Riot declared its fondness for him, he knew that the second he became more trouble than he was worth, he was dead.

Riot’s restless movements slowed. **Yes… something like that could be arranged.** Relief made Drake’s knees weak and he couldn’t even summon any revulsion when Riot steadied him. **I remember your labs. They are likely still intact. Obtaining human scientists will be difficult, but I have some influence. Enough for this, I think.**

‘Thank you,’ Drake managed to choke out. He focused hard on the possibility of success, forced himself to feel it and then shove the feeling through the link. 

Riot gave a soft growl of approval, the sensation rumbling through Drake’s body. **Yes. And in exchange you will cooperate.**

‘What exactly do you want? There’s only so far I can push my emotions one way or the other,’ Drake said carefully. There were ways of manipulating emotion, from making deliberate body-language choices to consciously focusing on his thoughts. He’d been doing some of that since they’d returned to Earth. There was a sick, guilty part of him that still admired what Riot was. The heady rush of symbiosis, the ruthless, driven power of Riot and its alien mind were still entrancing to Drake. He’d been brutally supressing those thoughts and it seemed to have been working.

**I understand about your emotions. What I want most is to hunt and feed together. Humans are not just prey. They are also predators in their own biosphere. You have the mind to enjoy it, if you let yourself.**

Drake shivered. That struck far too close to home. It was easy to imagine losing himself in something so viscerally thrilling, to forget how weak and powerless he was under Riot. But he was afraid of what else he’d lose in the process. ‘But not cannibalism. Humans don’t have the neural circuitry for that. I could probably enjoy hunting other animals with you,’ Drake offered.

There was a grating metallic sound that Drake only heard inside his head. It was Riot’s laughter. **Not cannibalism. You are not a human anymore. We are the new species you wanted. We are a symbiosis. And humans are prey.**

Drake wavered. This was a twisted mockery of what he’d wanted from the melding of human and symbiote. But he’d been thinking about this since the symbiotes had first been retrieved. Transcendence beyond human limitations, to become something better, something superior, was a hunger inside him deep enough to rival Riot’s more conventional appetite. 

Ultimately there wasn’t really a choice, Drake told himself. For the chance at saving humanity with research, he’d give into this for Riot. ‘We’ll hunt and… and feed together. I’ll try and enjoy it and I won’t hold back. You’ll get me access to lab and personnel. And as soon as those scouts get back, you’ll push to leave Earth. You have influence. You’ll use it.’

 **Yes.** Riot’s voice was a deep, satisfied growl in the back of Drake’s skull. 

///

They ran together this time. It was utterly different than being controlled by Riot. Power flooded Drake’s limbs and the sheer joy of movement was particularly intense after being denied it for so long. Neither of them was entirely in control, but rather intention was a shifting balance between them fuelled by instincts. They were in perfect symbiosis and Drake could admit that it was glorious. He forced himself to feel that way and viciously buried the sense of horror that tried to creep through him when he thought about what they were actually doing.

The human was running below them at street level. Drake and Riot were racing across the rooftops and recklessly flinging their body across gaps that neither of them could have traversed alone. Riot formed claws or blades to sink into brickwork and propel them forward. Drake calculated trajectories and forces unconsciously and their body executed perfect manoeuvres. Riot’s predator satisfaction washed through their link. Drake wasn’t immune. Something deep inside him resonated with Riot’s instincts like a plucked string. 

Riot was drawing out the chase. They could have ended this an hour ago. Drake vacillated between wanting this to be over and wanting to postpone the inevitable end for as long as possible. He couldn’t spare any part of his mind for doubt or dread. This was what he’d agreed to. But he knew, a part of him _knew_ , what this was doing to his psyche. The neural pathways he was reinforcing by giving into this would make it easier the next time. And the time after that. And he was doing it to himself.

The human was slowing down. There was no way any mere human could compete with symbiosis. They made one final leap and dropped down from the rooftops a step in front of their prey. They grinned with Drake’s face and Riot’s teeth. The scent of fear was much stronger this close and it made their pulse race.

‘No!’ the human shrieked. The frequency was just on the edge of painful and it sent a strange ripple through them. 

Drake didn’t feel a hint of fatigue despite the long chase. He felt energised and hungry all at once. They grabbed the human by the throat to cut off the noise. The claws of their other hand raked through thin cloth and thinner skin. The human made a choked, gurgling noise and Drake fought down his nausea, focusing on Riot’s excitement instead. 

The rich, metallic scent of blood was disgusting, alluring and the human was still alive, writhing in their grasp. Riot was manifest, not quite overlaying Drake, not quite detached. Its flesh slid against Drake’s skin, pressing against him from both inside and out. Their tongue slithered through their prey’s blood. Drake made a sound low in his throat. This was sick, unspeakable, and once again he shoved those thoughts aside and groped for the thread of pleasure twisting through a deeper part of them. Was it Riot’s delight at playing with its food or was there something in Drake that was capable of enjoying this? Pushing himself to revel in it felt like stripping away a layer of his own humanity. 

The human’s struggles were getting weaker and Riot’s savage joy was settling down into a softer kind of contentment. With one lazy snap of their jaws, they crunched through their prey’s skull. Drake was unprepared when Riot pushed a wave of its own satisfaction through the link. He would have staggered if Riot hadn’t held them steady. Meat and bone slid down something that was at once a throat and something entirely alien. Drake’s stomach turned just as visceral, animal enjoyment surged in him. He focused on the latter, feeding it back to Riot through the link.

Tendrils of Riot’s flesh peeled off Drake’s skin and formed blades and teeth and edges. It buried itself in the dead human’s body, ripping through skin and muscle. The sensation was barely recognisable as eating, but Riot fed. Drake squeezed his eyes shut and focused on the feeling of satiety and not on the reality of what Riot was doing. What they were doing. He did his best to ignore the wet sounds.

Drake was caught off guard when Riot suddenly gave him complete control of their body. He pitched forward and fell to his knees on the hard pavement. His eyes flew open. Blood was spattered across the building in front of him and more of it pooled on the ground. ‘What–’ he began, but Riot’s voice in his head cut him off.

 **Good. Very close. I could feel you trying all the way through.** Its voice sounded thick, almost slurred with languid satisfaction. **You’ll get even better in time. Really enjoy it too.**

The nausea returned in full force, but without the accompanying lurch in his stomach. Almost as if he was only left with the _idea_ of nausea now. ‘You know. You know that’s how the human brain works. That pretence becomes reality over time as the neural connections get reinforced.’ Drake paused, as if refusing to say the words might somehow stop them from being true. ‘You know this because I know this,’ he said hollowly.

 **Yes,** Riot said simply, ignoring or indifferent to Drake’s distress. **I wouldn’t have made the deal otherwise. Collecting scientists for you hasn’t been easy,** it added reproachfully. Its tendrils had drawn back close against Drake’s skin and they moved lazily over his body, casually possessive. One of them dragged through the pool of blood before arching up in an elegant curl. Drake expected the blood slicking the surface of Riot’s flesh to get absorbed. Instead the tendril drew closer to Drake’s face. He could feel Riot’s shivery anticipation through the link and he knew what it wanted with a terrible clarity. 

Drake was in full control right now. He could deny Riot this. It might even let him. Or he could live right up to the full spirit of their deal and hasten the process. He was already complicit in his own destruction, what was one more step?

Drake curled a hand around Riot’s tendril and drew it to his lips. The blood was warm on his tongue and beneath the overpowering iron tang was the taste of Riot’s flesh. Alien, harsh, and yet almost familiar, almost comforting. Riot rippled against him and its low growl of satisfaction reverberated through his skull. This felt good, they felt good, and it took Drake a moment to realise why thin tendrils were fanned out across his cheekbones. A distant part of himself wondered if this was Riot’s attempt at comforting him or if it just liked the salt.


End file.
